After Fallout
by Phoenix Valentine
Summary: In the perspective of a former Enclave/prewar soldier, After Fallout features the adventure into the Heart of America. Adventure and Survival based in both prewar and postwar apocalyptic fallout universe. Please comment as I take those considerations to Heart. Hell boy's entries final has been published
1. Chapter 1, Atomic Bomb Baby

Chapter One, Atomic Bomb Baby

I could go back and almost feel as if I am living that moment again. The day the world changed forever. It was a cold, windy fall and the Halloween holiday was just beginning. Although Halloween was vastly the new excitement in the neighborhood, I was more busy with my work that day. I had been stuck inside my house for a while as I had to transcribe all documents that somehow just appear on my lap and overwork all my schedule. I was shuffling papers as I organize the reports from inside sources from China and the Korea. The keyboard clicked away every report that will eventually make its way into Washington when I flipped through pages on the PRC and accidentally knocked over my coffee cup. "Damn it, I just finished this report!", I grudgingly grabbed the cup from the floor and started the process of cleaning up my clumsiness.

As I soaked the coffee with some paper napkins, I started to drift into deep thinking, what if the Republic of China and the reports on the possible bombardment of the homestead could happen. I mean... we are at war currently and if China decides that enough is enough... 'Knock Knock'! I jolted a bit from the sudden yank from my drifting. Alarmed, I looked over my desk and stared at my pale oak door. Strange, I wasn't expecting visitors at this time of day, maybe it's the mailman with something? I dropped the wet, stained napkins in the trashcan as I stood back up When I opened the door, I came face to face with a short man in an Army Uniform. His insignia on his shoulders relates to the title of Coronal.

Immediately I saluted and straightened up. "At Ease Soldier, I'm Coronal James Patterson and I've been sent to offer you an opportunity." As he talked, he handed me a folder with papers. "Sir, What is this opportunity?" I could hear my voice cracked a bit and felt very embarrassed. I took the folder and opened it to only see a paper with a fill-in form and a pamphlet for a "safe haven" on a Government oil rig off the coast of California. "Just fill that form and get your luggage. We got orders to take you immediately to the safe zone. Once you finished, meet me at the vertibird outside with your decision. Congratulations on the acceptance again, Lieutenant Phachara." and like that, he left around the corner. Looking back on the brightly colored pamphlet with some sort of logo with an E, I turned over and read the imprint and stared at it.

Now, I've heard of groups like the Vault-tec corporation doing things like this to "preserve humanity" crap on Television but I never actually was worried about anything like that. To be honest, when I first heard of the Safe-House programs/project from that Vault tec. representative, I thought it was ridiculous. I mean, why would anyone simply let people (Normal civilians I might add) into a safe location for FREE? It seems suspicious but here I am, with a folder full of information about this alleged location that could protect me from the nuclear annihilation that everyone was so cooped up about. If it was on any other occasion or any other time, I would've just thrown this as far as i could outside the window. But today was different, I actually felt a sense of urgency to sign that paper.

My brother had called earlier to mention that he will disappear for a bit to work on a research base on a similar oil rig. I was busy with typing the reports that I shrugged it off as his daily business and nothing out of the ordinary. I grabbed a black pen and signed the form, originally having thoughts of such a silly fear that every American seems to have. Must've been a hell of a day for the Coronal, having to pick up a low-ranking Lieutenant to god knows where. The sun was just rising too, shame that this Saturday will have to begin with me leaving my home for some safe place. According to the Colonel, I had to pack up and be deployed immediately to this location.

I grabbed my luggage, filling it with as many items that I valued including my metals that I received and packed it all along with my officer uniform and rushed outside. The jets roared past the skies above my neighborhood when I came out of the building. I could hear distant vertibirds flying and strangely all heading one direction. The bird chirp and the cars started to roar as the day was just beginning, and boy, did that day begin. I had no idea my timing is so impeccable, seriously. As I handed Coronal the documents, I turned and took one last look at my home, a home I thought I wouldn't come back for just a bit. Colonel Patterson checked the documents, closed the packet, and nodded to the pilot. The time was 6:30 when we lifted off and steered west, following the other vertibirds.

The leaves rustled away as the engine roared back into life. My last thoughts from the view of my apartment were that this urgency for the pickup must've been utterly important. Sure, maybe these high and mighty generals might need me for a project inside this "Enclave", but I didn't understand my impact at that time. I understood that this might have been connected to my brother's involvement with a project called "Safehouse" or something like that. I honestly have no idea then that my brother's involvement in Safe House sealed my fate to survive. Apparently, my brother created some breakthrough in a Virus prototype in one of the government sites and plans on utilizing experiments in an enclosed environment. He had received high commendations for his great mind in the past so I wouldn't be surprised if something would hold my brother back.

"Coronal, Sir, why are all the vertibirds in this area going the same direction?" The Coronal, who is now in a T-51 Powerarmor, peered at me, "You're not the only pick up this fine Saturday Evening you know, I got orders from the very top, like very top, to evacuate all VIPs on the list. You should feel lucky Lieutenant to take part of that list. Any more questions will be answered at the base." From that moment on, I would strongly remember the incoming view of the Oil rig. The Rig seemed massive, with several helipads for landing and literally hundreds of people heading inside its safe doors. The Vertibird slowed down, jolted a bit, and dropped in attitude. The landing was a bit rough, with me being lurched forward upon touching the ground.

It was 6:45 A.M California time or 9:45 Eastern time when we arrived. I climbed down and grabbed my tan suitcase, checking myself one last time, and ran toward the doors. There was that insignia again, the giant E but with more emphasis on the black and white. At precisely 6:46, a large ringing sound can be heard inside. Suddenly there was a bright light in the far distance and a large burst of sound. I knew what that siren was, I heard it all the time as practice when I was stationed in Alaska. We use to practice ducking and hiding back at school whenever we hear it. It was the sound of impending doom, reaching its nasty claws at us and attempting to grab us.

One by one, more large booms can be heard around. The iconic mushroom cloud-piercing the bright blue skies. As I stood there in terror, I could hear hundreds of screams erupting, only to be silenced in the shroud of dust that consumed the West coast. Immediately, a soldier grabbed me and pushed me inside. " Get inside now!" "Jesus Christ! Run!" and in the midst of the chaos, I somehow successfully was shoved into a lift.

The door just slammed shut and we dropped at rapid speeds. I was struck with fear that the rush of radiation would reach us, harm us or even the blast wave swatting our lift away. I noticed, in the lift, that the armor that the soldiers were wearing was some sort of insignia, a large E surrounded by the gates opened, I came face to face with a fellow in a sharp uniform. The lights were much dimmer down here. According to his metals, he was an admiral of the United States Navy. All he did was inspect all of us, pointed behind him and stated, "All science officials must report to deck C, while military officials report to Deck F.

Any other personnel must report to examination room on Deck G. There are stairs behind me that will lead to your destination. Welcome to the Enclave, the brighter future for humanity and beyond." and just like that, he just marched away. Everyone around me just grabbed their stuff and head towards the staircase. It was a big blur after that, mainly with just tiny details of me wandering into deck F and signing in. The entire time, I could vouch that it was shocking what I experienced. Truth be told, the rest of my time in the rig wasn't that interesting, just a bunch of paperwork that I had to fill. Much later, I ran into my brother on Deck C, both of us in uniform. He had been checking off some sort of list, probably the supplies or something like that when I ran into him. His uniform is a weird science one (of course, he would be, that gigantic nerd). We mainly discussed what was going on, catching up mainly.

My brother discussed how Cryogenics here on the Rig was similar to the same equipment in a distant vault meant for civilians. He appeared distraught, almost as if he had an unbearable secret that he wished to get off his chest. However, before I could indulge in his work that got us here, the egghead co-worker of his came up and instructed me to report to the cryo chambers. Apparently, from what I could remember from the blur of paperwork and questioning, these enclave people want me to be frozen until they need me. Something about long-term reliability? Something related to my skills from Anchorage? I really hope it wasn't the latter as I feared that I had to go back into combat. That battle left me with bad scars, mentally and physically.

After my experience in that Snowy hell, the last thing I want is more fighting. My brother acknowledged the request and gave me one last hug. I'll still remember that moment, him hugging me like a last goodbye. A lot of this went over my head, with me never realizing that long-term storage requires a LONG time being departed from my brother. I didn't understand it but… it was my last experience in the presence of my brother.

He pulled away and quietly said that he had to stay and manage all the new experiments that the enclave request of him. I answered back a goodbye and headed off into Level H. I didn't really get a good experience at the enclave after that. When I did arrive inside the cryogenics bay, a bunch of scientists angrily mentioned how I was late and that I need to get in my pod. They were saying that I am jeopardizing the objective about purity or something. They weren't really nice, or patient. And in just a snap, I stepped into my white cryo pod and they initiated the countdown and then… pitch white. The everlasting ringing in my ear signaling a fresh start in a brand new world, a world after the fallout. Because even if the Great War had ended, War… War never Changes.


	2. Chapter 2, Stars and Stripes

Chapter 2, Stars and Stripes

The ringing finally halted as I awoke from stasis. The bitter cold burned as the ice retracting from my body. My eyes were slowly adjusting from pitch white to slow shapes and colors. I had a pleasant dream of PTSD from Anchorage. I dreamed of the constant sounds of shells exploding near us and pictured the Crimson Dragoon division instantly appearing and slicing my fellow brothers and sisters. I was writing away from a letter to my dear brother back home and was caught off guard.

Dear god, I could sounds of the ambush to this day. My commander was shouting orders as we attempted to fight back the surprise ambush in the camp. Gunfire rang out through the icy cold canyons and footsteps everywhere. Sometimes, a Chinese troop would appear and kill a guy, then just disappear. Made me then and now so paranoid.

"Private! Private! Start shooting!"... I mumbled many similar things from my hallucination before I heard a muffled voice behind the steel pod door, "Alright, let's cleanup and get Lieutenant Phachara and Lieutenant Commander Gomez up to speed at the barracks." I was so disoriented from the quick freeze and thaw and had no idea what was happening. I slowly realized that I had another flashback again, and tried to shake that off.

I heard some muffled clicking, like typing on a computer and a sudden jolt. Suddenly, the doors lifted open and I fell out. Luckily, someone caught me from smacking face first into the concrete pavement. "Whoa, calm down there Sir, let us get you up and running." a distorted voice said. I could barely see around me but I'm assuming that there were a couple people around.

Everything was blurry and disorienting and my knees felt so weak. I felt someone lifting me upward onto a chair and a bright light penetrated my eyes. A muffled voice lingered in my ear while the lights were shining. "Sorry for the quick wake up. General Merkavich demanded all officers, Lieutenant and above, to be thawed and deployed. I'm the medical officer, Daniel Richardson Sir, and by regulation, I have to ensure your health. I don't see any signs of infection or radiation poisoning, that's good at least. No damage either... Can you follow this light?"

Daniel shined a bright light at my right eye as he continued his examination on me. I blinked a couple times to adjust to my environment and asked, " Huh? What's happening? Where am I?" "It's alright Sir, You're safe here. The War Room meeting will give you a debrief on the next mission." He kept checking my eyes and hands," Alright, looks fine to me, you're healthy enough and ready to deploy. The War Room is on level 4." And just like that, he disappeared from my view.

The guy rushed over to the other guy next to me. Being a bit confused and drowsy, with the ability to stand up without being hustled onto a chair, I got up and walked towards the door. As I passed by, I noticed the strange power armor around me, with the Enclave insignia. The stairs up felt aching for my recent thawed legs. The lights were flicking a bit, reminding me that I am still underground rather than above the ocean level. How quaint, I thought, that this nightmare was simply reality.

When I finally arrived in the War Room, I noticed a couple other officers already in their respective seats. A proud officer standing in front of a screen and gestured towards me, " Have a seat Lieutenant Phachara. You're already late as it is." I immediately obeyed.

Nervous as I was, I put on my best calm look and checked my clipboard assigned on the desk. All I could think about right now through this aching headache is the condition of my family, specifically my brother. "I'm sure many of you are curious and confused on the events that transpired while you were a TV dinner. First off, the Group A and B have successfully established contact after the bombs dropped and with that, We have new orders from the new president. The government is back and operating smoothly, even with some power issues. The year is currently, 2241. Many events have transpired after the big boom."

He gestured to the screen with the image of the ruins of America. " The atomic bomb dropped on the United States left many scars and many technologies buried yet it left behind sinister evil. The radiation created filthy humans, Ghouls the eggheads call them. Those who weren't changed are still damaged humans from the radiation and should be put out of their misery. The survival of the pure human race rest with us now. With new breakthroughs in the FEV trials, this rig requires more human subjects for further experimentation. The eggheads down in the biological labs tracked some suitable targets for the experiments. Juan Gomez and Markus Bren will lead Alpha and Bravo Squad, Harold Davidson and Philip Smith will take Delta and Charlie Squad, and finally, Phachara and Jonathan will cover Foxtrot and Golf Team. Expect little resistances from the filth in California but be advised that we need to extract them fast and discreet or we might face problems with the surrounding settlements. After your completion of the mission, report back to the Beta site, 'Navarro'. Report to Level 2 for Equipment and your team. Any further questions?"

The officer in the messy uniform raised his hand,"Sir, the paper here states that Phachara and I have to cover a tribe near vault 13. I don't understand why we are extracting some dumb radiated tribes when we alternatives to the eggheads." I scanned the contents of the folder in front of me and nodded, "I second what Johnothen stated, if the others are recovering Vault dwellers and non radiated people, why are we assigned the task of this? Shouldn't our focus be a high priority target rather than unintelligent locals?" "Lieutenant Phachara, the 'Tribes' are essential in future scientific efforts. I don't give a rats ass if you want this or not, YOU WILL COMPLETE THIS. If you have an issue with this DIRECT ORDER, You can take it and shove it up your ass. Got it?" I nodded and quickly gathered my notes. Honestly, I didn't want to get in trouble after just being thawed out like a Salisbury steak straight from the freezer. Hmm… Salisbury Steak, all that time freezing makes me hungry. "You are all dismissed", I followed Johnothen outside the door in silence until we reached the staircase, during which, Johnothen turned and faced me with his confused face.

" I'll meet you at the Helipad, I got something I have to take care of. I'll gather my supplies later." I glanced blankly at this Johnothen character. He, to me, seems rugged, tough and buff, ready to spring into action vs me who looked like a recent graduate of Harvard University of Nerdiness. Of course, I may feel a bit cynical about this, some of that has to do with the fact of a rude awakening from a horrible nightmare which, turns out, was real. I just simply nodded and pushed him to the side. I wasn't in the mood to talk, just eager to find my brother.

Now, I had no idea during this time that my brother had died long ago because I had other things in mind. I never added the numbers up about the reality of my brother till 2 weeks later.

When I finally arrived to level two, I opened the hatch labeled "Armory". Now, I expected the armory to be in tiptop shape, with neatly stocked magazines in properly labeled cages but that was just a fantasy compared to the OCD hell that I witnessed. The door didn't even open fully when it smashed into a pile of paperwork on the floor.

Christ, this rig is large yet the armory is barely bigger than my Bedroom in the apartment. I put my hands over my mouth, "Hello? I'm looking for the… Quarter master or someone in here?" A rustle behind the piles and a quick mumble, and a person poked his head out. "Yes? You need something?" "Um, I was ordered to report here to pick up my gear? Also, wha-" And as stupid and clumsy as I am, slid on a piece of paper.

When I fell, the towers of paper near me collapsed as well, creating a humongous mess with paper raining in all directions. The brunette quartermaster stopped and stared at me. "Uh…. Look, I'm so sorry about that-" He raised his hand and silently huffed in, "Shite, I just organized that. It took 4 hours to complete and organize that. WHAT THE ARSE DID YOU DO?! YOU…"

I immediately took a step back and raised my hand in an apologetic way, also scanning his hands in case he might throw something. "I… UHH.. need to get my gear." "SO WHY ARE YOU HERE? YOU stupid shite, you need to complete the form and give the paper to level 8 storage! IF YOU WANTED THE FORM, IT IS LITERALLY OUTSIDE THE DOOR ON THE BOX! Then, shove that paper up someone from Cargo so it's not MY PROBLEM! NOW GET OUT!"

Something tells me that I should probably get out, maybe it was the angry Irish or the papers flying everywhere. The guy shoved me out and slammed the door on me. "Whoops, hopefully, that might not bite me in the ass later. Might as well get to Storage." I really need to stop talking out loud to myself.

To summarize the next half hour, I got my gear and was deployed east. That way I save time from a boring story to tell. Anyways, the extraction of the tribals was an easy success. The resistance was minimal throughout the operation. Frankly, the only issue that I experienced was a tribal who manage to dodge the shots fired at him. He ran off into the distance, not that I cared. I didn't really give much thought to that, after all, how much damage can that one tribal do? It's not like he could get help from another tribal to destroy the oil rig.

As we departed in the Vertibirds, I scanned the background of the area and tribe. Apparently, this tribe that we captured was linked to Vault 13 where, according to Vault Tec report, had machinery that broke down. What ended up happening was a vault dweller came out from there and got the chip, only to be ejected for his experience from the wasteland. I assume the person is a male but no reports actually confirmed that. Whatever the case, this person settled and formed this tribe.

I stared at the gazing sun, hopeful of seeing my brother. This was my most memorable experience in the Enclave, as I was later stationed into Navarro to staff the place. It was the most boring assignment I have ever been assigned yet it was just the start of my experience in the wasteland. The base itself shouldn't be too bad. A bloody brutal adventure awaits me, I just had no idea back then.


	3. Chapter 3, Jingle Jangle

**Chapter 3, Jingle Jangle**

Navarro was a complete disaster, I can confirm that. The staffing issue left many offices empty and the staff here very stressed from the double work. It also didn't help that some of the equipment malfunctions twice a week I was assigned to stand guard outside some Sergeants place to protect his sensitive documents or something. I never liked assignments that assign me to stand guard for hours on end. Though from what I hear, this assignment is better than others since I receive less ear blasting scolding from this Sergeant unlike those unlucky individuals.

Apparently, this guy liked to pick those who express lower intelligence. I'm sure that there are probably was better jobs but I'm also sure that this sergeant also would chew those people out too. I actually ran into a person out of their officer uniform but they didn't realize how serious the offense was. I swore that the officer looked like those tribal that we captured but then my pal in the office next door caught them.

He decided that it was just a mistake that the officer forgot his uniform so he gave him one. Seemed like a nice guy, maybe it was because this officer's intelligence reflect my friend's brothers… lower capacity of understanding.

Well, as I stood back on guard, some shooting had happened down the hall. I froze as I heard the alarm blaring and speakers coming alive with fresh orders of a intruder. I panicked, like I mentioned a while back, I had no interest in being in a firefight. Too many scars. Not wanting a close death again, I abandoned my post and ran into one of the empty rooms. More shooting and screaming echoes the halls, "Get backup! We need more men! Help! Gah!". I can hear blast of plasma and laser rifles spraying everywhere, sometimes followed by a agonizing scream. Each time I hear a shot, I get memories of Anchorage.

I gathered my exit strategy and the first chance I got, I jumped out the window. Not the best idea though as the local faunus caught my fall. Why is there so many cactuses?! Seriously! Grabbing my rifle, I emerged from the prickly cactus and wobbled out into the desert. I climbed the fence and then headed towards a nearby cave. My pal had made a stash den in case of any emergency, many consisting of drugs and ammunition.

The reason I know this was because he mouths a lot when he drinks just a bit too much. What I forgot was that geckos are angry little buggers that loved shade away from hostile contact. The minute I stepped into the den, they sprung at me at crazy speed. I fired wildly into the cave, with each flash of magnesium revealing any geckos. I fell on my ass from the recoil, but still firing. A gecko nearly nicked me if it wasn't for my combat knife. When my rifle ran out of clips, I threw my knife at the last gecko, slicing into it's head like a hot knife and butter.

I breathed heavily, exhausted from that battle. Yeah… it was good that i didn't stick around, probably would've gotten shot already. My pip boy flashed the remaining ammunition in my inventory, just a mere two and a half clips for my 10mm pistol but none for my service rifle. I gathered the stash as fast as possible and left the gecko cave. 3 magazines of .308 and 10mm.

The hot wind blew against my fleshy body as I took the first step into the Mojave desert. A barren wasteland, perfect for my death I guess. Checking my Pipboy map, I scanned any possible Enclave locations to take shelter in. I checked off Navarro and slid the cursor to a place called Poseidon gas station near Bakersfield. If I'm correct, this was another Enclave location that also had a staffing issue that Johnothen was sent to.

After we had returned to the rig to report in, central was pissed that we let one guy get away. They basically separated both of us and sent us to different locations to serve crummy duties. I reviewed the map to make sure I was heading the correct direction when I remembered that Poseidon oil had ties to the enclave, which makes sense. I mean, we had a headquarters on a Poseidon oil rig so those ties must be really strong.

I figured that I could report there and hope they don't question me too much about Navarro. My plan was to avoid too much exposure from the wasteland so it doesn't seem like I trekked away from my base alone. The waste was treacherous, with many encounters with the local wildlife. Giant ants were the worse experience as I thought chucking an incendiary grenade would help me but instead, pissed off the ants.

Many times did I thought that I was done for. Other than the wildlife, I had no encounters with any locals. When I arrived at the gas station, however, there was little sign of any enclave members being there recently. It looked abandoned, with much of the equipment still on the table and shelves. Some pre-war cars lay on its side or its fuel tank blackened from explosives. The Vertibirds obviously was in a hurry to take off as there were signs of heat burns on the ground, only caused when the Pilot stressed the engine to high temperatures for quick liftoff.

There were blast marks on the walls outside and blood. The cars were stacked in a way to obviously keep out intruders but it seemed like the markings are from inside the barricades. I sensed a battle happened here but it looked like it wasn't a fight against outsiders, like a fight among the troops stationed here. From a glance at the patterns of the shoes, they were retreating to the vertibirds with their weapons probably pointed at the store. The attackers must've been inside the store.

Stepping carefully inside, I flashed my pipboy on and checked the gas station store. The cash register was looted and the magazine rack was empty. There were sleeping bags everywhere on the floor and a flickering light bulb on a hanging lamp. There was blood on the counter and the back door window was broken. Seems like someone tried to escape from something and broke the window to unlock the door.

Judging by the amount of blood on the counter and the direction of the splatter, this soldier was taken by surprise, with the assailant slicing the throat and throwing the victim over the counter. The assailant then pulled out a laser weapon of some sort, firing around at moving targets? The blast marks confirm that theory.

Should check the terminal on a clue on what went down. The side room with the computer had been barricaded with chairs, desks, and boxes. Makeshift fort against the attackers but it clearly didn't hold. I stepped over two corpses and checked the desk. Scanning the files on the terminal, I clicked open file Blue, and a floor tile extended upwards. The ladder down seemed unstable but what the hell, I've come all this way to find sanctuary. Before I climb down, I decided to search the bodies in the room. There wasn't any good loot, just dog-tags and a bunch of garbage. One guy had Gumdrops and a combat knife.

A couple minutes later and I finally arrived at the bottom. Oh lord and behold, This gas station was an enclave base specifically spent on studying the effects of… cryosleep. There were papers on the ground everywhere, cabinets left open and even broken items like cups with coffee stained on the white tiles.

A thought popped into my mind, the Enclave has it's own radio channel for Events and statements. I switched my radio on and switch between channels, eventually getting to channel 94. "High casualties were reported on-site Alpha, repeat, Site Oil Rig Alpha has been lost. Reports are coming in that an all-out attack overthrew the staff and explosives were set off. All remaining Enclave personnel must report at Site Washington. Repeat, report to site Washington, the Capital Wasteland. No confirmed reports on the status of our president as of yet."

The radio continued the repeating message as no words escape my mouth. I didn't exactly felt sadden as I only spent a couple weeks with them but still, my friends were there. I felt sort of happy as this means I have no more chains to hold me back but that also means no more orders, no more assistance or guidance to an objective. For the longest time, even in Alaska, I had friends to count on, family at my side. Now… I'm all alone.

At least I now understand why there was a fight here, they were trying to abandon post after the news and there must've been loyalist that wanted to stay faithful to the Enclave that got in the way. The radio slowly drew out as I revisited my memories of my past. I realized that I am the past, the remnant of my former self. A coward and bookie that hides behind a computer screen and types away reports like Anchorage or China.

I will try to fight for the good fight now. From then on, I am my own man, independent of factions. I decided that then forth, I need to no longer care about others like my brother, I don't need to side with a faction or ideology, I will survive on my own just fine. I strapped my Enclave jacket back on and zipped it up all the way.

"Time for a new leaf, not another coat of paint on an old one". I set the computer to open me on December 22, 2285 and stepped into the pod for another fresh start. The countdown started to shout the numbers and I dream back to my family, and how much I miss my brother. From what I learned from the events so far, war hasn't changed one bit. (Here's another quick chapter! Enjoy! Remember that the next chapter will arrive next month! Sorry!)


	4. Chapter 4, Part 1 of 2,It's a Sin to Lie

**Chapter 4 It's a Sin to Tell a Lie**

Part 1 of 2

"Please watch your step sir, we don't know whether the subject is dangerous or not" "I second her response sir, the subject might possibly be a fluke for all we know. Christ, this guy was part of the Enclave!" There were some muffled footsteps as people approached my pod. There was a quick flash of light like a torch briefly shined on to me.

" I understand your concerns Lieutenant and Sergeant but desperate times call for drastic measures, President Kimball needs every bit of intel that we can gather to counter the legion and push them out of the southwest. Are you finished yet Mr. Fantastic?" There was a muffled voice originating from my right side of the pod. "Uh… there's a lot of buttons to be pushed before anything can be assured. Give me a minute, the terminal seems to be a bit wonky. Aw shit, That doesn't look good."

I could barely see through the glass but there were red and orange lights flashing as alarms went off. "Security alert! Life Support turned off! Maintenance is needed on Pod 1A". The speakers shouted those words and were repeating them.

Somewhere out there, I heard a door opening. There were sounds of bullets firing and panic shouting. The air in here felt a bit thin. "Fantastic, TURN OFF THE SECURITY SYSTEM! God damn it!" Some time passed as I black in and out of consciousness, with many times me waking up thinking I couldn't breathe.

I grasped to the handle at the door and started to pound against it. I felt like I was suffocating slowly in the worst way possible." Hold on, I'm almost there…Got it!"

The hatch slid open and I came into view of a bright light. I immediately collapsed onto the ground and tried to crawl back up. My body felt so cramped and shitty. I faced up and saw several people in front of me. All of these people stood in weird uniform, one of which had the insignia of a general. I haven't really recognized that symbol of the bear before, other than it was the logo of the Californian flag back in the day.

With my blurring eyesight, I could make out that they were frightened of me, with them pointing guns at me."Wha-, What's happening? Is it 2285?" "Who are you? We didn't see you in the Logs of the Enclave staff in the facility. Clearly, you must be part of the Enclave since you are still in your officer uniform. Talk, now"

I slid my hands onto my face, very confused on what the hell is happening. My head was still spinning from the lack of oxygen back in my pod. I started to gather my thoughts. That's right, I froze myself so I could pass time rather than die in the wasteland. " I… I'm Lieutenant Phachara Arromdee from the United States Army. The Prewar military. I was frozen earlier to serve as Enclave personnel before being transferred here for another cryofreezing."

The general then got on one knee at my level and asked, "What's your history?" After telling pretty much a 3 chapter story of my experience (if I had written it down), the general stood back up and faced his fellow colleagues. " According to him, He has great intel about the surrounding enclave bases near here and has past training in combat, He might be of some use to us after all." The General turned and stretched out his hand, "Welcome to the New California Republic, I'm General Oliver Lee and would welcome you to our military."

I shook his hand as he pats me on the back and pulled me up. " Hope you continue to fight the good fight, Master Sergeant Arromdee. We need men like you, no matter their past, to rightfully assist us in expanding East, against tyranny. At times of hardship like these, we must turn to you for help. Will you accept my offer Master Sergeant?"

Shocked, I stood silent. A new country birthed out of the ashes of California? Must be a crazy world out there today. Even crazier if a General came all this way to wake a hibernating soldier of the past. I croaked "Sir, I happily obliged to join the NCR, Thank you, sir." And just like that, I was part of the NCR.

Of course, I would have to give intel about Enclave stashes or bases around the SouthEastern United States but it wasn't all bad. I was deployed on the South Eastern front on the way to fight this Legion menace after being shipped to Shady Sands. Shady Sands, Man was this a huge surprise, the same town that we Enclave was ordered to kidnapped has now expanded and formed a new country.

According to Oliver, I shouldn't go around mentioning that I'm Enclave for obvious reason. The locals really hate the power armored monstrosity. The heat was gazing, I don't know how these locals survived out here through all of this. My new uniform, tan like a grilled steak and pinned with the symbol of the NCR on the back. My tie felt wrinkled as I casually walked into the market in the city. There were stands all around me, with a different variety of goods ranging from fish to weapons. I was arranged to meet a mentor figure type in this area, a First Sergeant Nicole O'Neil.

The wind started to pick up, blowing hot air against my uncovered face. My beret was just snuggled in tight enough that it wouldn't be blown away. "Master Sergeant Arromdee?" A voice came to my right. A woman was leaning in a patio chair, with her feet on the table containing a file and a drink of sorts. She was in a standard uniform, with a tan tie and a straw hat covering her head instead of a beanie. The woman seemed the strong silent type but would whoop someone's ass quick. She set her feet down to the ground and stood up, walking towards me.

"You must be the Master Sergeant I'm assigned to, aren't you? (What a bitch, I thought, this will go so well) Have a seat" Already I can already tell through the accent that she will be a nuisance. Her backhanded comments will be a problem for me. I sat down in front of her view and she flipped a folder open. The contents were mainly about General Oliver's plans to push the Legion from Arizona.

"I'm assigned to watch over you to ensure that you don't just run away at first chance. Oliver trust you in command of several soldiers but the others in the government don't trust you. You need to prove that you are capable and not willing to escape into the wasteland. And don't try to knock me out or something so you could be out of my sight, it never ends well. Alright, so here's the plan for you" I felt a bit offended from the distrust issue but understand that the NCR wasn't that willing to let me in with open arms if I wasn't going to have a tight collar attached to me.

The First Sergeant gestured onto a red dot on the map of northern Arizona and slid it across to the southern border of Arizona. "You are to meet here at campsite Angel, meet with your soldiers will be there. (Woo, commanding soldiers should be so fun) After gathering equipment, you'll have to head East with the other NCR battalions. You are to secure Yucca Army Airfield or the Arizona proving ground airport as it was renamed. (I'm surprised that the NCR knows so much about the Southwest and Four states commonwealth) There, signal back through the NCR frequency to tell the news. The vertibird will pick us up in 5 and drop us off at Site Angel."

She proceeded to lean back and take a swig of sarsaparilla. I grabbed the folder and reviewed the details, " I'm supposed to group up with another officer? In grid G2? There's nothing that presents that high of a danger there, not even the legion." I protested. "How should I know, this is the intel the scouts provide us and that's what we are acting on. Unless you can provide us magical intel from prewar America then you have to go there." Wait, she doesn't know I was former Enclave? Maybe that's for the best.

If Oliver didn't disclose that information to her, maybe he didn't do it for anyone except the government. This might work out well. There was a former US underground research station near Yucca, maybe I could "stumble" by accident into a base? That should impress her enough to loosen the noose around me.

I chuckled and replied, "No Ma'am, I won't question the intel. Just curious, that's all. After all, I'm sure the reports are accurate with the Legion retreating after the lost of Caesar and all." Nicole glanced at me with a look, confused on my chuckle, and then changed focus onto a lighter.

As she puffed on smokes, I reviewed the information that was given, A1 (Me) heads to G2 to meet with A2 (another idiot officer) while A3 and 4 will head straight East to Phoenix. Outta be fun to see absolutely nothing at the base. From the intel that I receive from Oliver, this legion would not use guns, nor will they be likely to guard an airfield full of such advanced technology. What faction (besides the NCR) would go there for prewar tech? None that I could think of. I wonder how the Enclave is doing?

I got reports about the capital wasteland having purified rivers and stuff and how some idiots in power armor chased the Enclave out, but there was no further reports. I speculate that the other Enclave regions simply vanished or deserted. I know that the NorthEast, Capital Wasteland, and the Southeast regions will be first abandoned.

Chicago will most likely be the very likely location that will fall last. I remember the strong grasp the Enclave had on the west and a partial grab to the east. I'm not sure what will become of the Alaskan Enclave but they sure ain't surviving alone.

"The ride's here" I turned and saw the vertibird soar overhead before landing in the helipad. "Time to pack up and leave Arromdee, hope you don't try to desert your post." She smashed her cigarette and head over the helipad. I grabbed my green military bag and climbed aboard. After strapping into the vehicle, I threw my bag in the storage overhead.

It will be a long 25 minute ride. "Have you ever thought about settling down and dealing cattle?" Nicole was sitting right across from me and was checking her combat knife. "If you ever deal with cattle, just remember that the radiated calves can easily die as their two heads can't…"


	5. Chapter 4, Part 2, It's a Sin to Lie

**Chapter 4 part 2 of 2, It's a sin to lie**

About half an hour later…

"... And that's how you tie a calf with just rope and gunpowder, just don't forget to bribe the Ghouls at the ranch before you leave. The NCR doesn't take kindly to cow stealing, better to bribe your way out. Now, most cattle have trouble with directions so what you would need also is..."

Dear god, I want to grab a tube-fed shotgun and pull the trigger on myself. Apparently, Nicole is a brilliant expert in cattle ranching and can drone about it for HOURS. That's what it felt like. "Descending and touching down, this might get bumpy sir"

Our pilot response was more interesting than the conversation I had with my boss. "Alright, time to close up shop and get to business" I glanced puzzlingly at her. Another thing about First Sergeant Nicole is that her analogies weren't any way good or in any case, make sense.

The minute the bird landed, I jumped out. The fresh burning air felt more refreshing than ever before. I scanned the area, a standard barracks, mess hall, and a bunch more. Nice to see something familiar, standard military organization.

I felt a sharp poke on my back, "Keep moving Arromdee, the troops are awaiting your orders. Just to remind you (at this point, we were walking and talking) I have to ensure that you don't desert and leave your troops behind. Don't worry, I'll try to stay out of your way. For the most part." As we passed multiple buildings and vehicles, I noticed how empty the camp felt. We approached the armory when a bunch of shots rang out.

There was a firing range near the armory, with some soldiers firing at cans on fences. I felt very heavy and nervous for some reason, especially during the duration of each shot ringing out. My knees gave way and I fell.

A white flash blinded my vision, and a ringing rammed into my ears. I had a hard time seeing now as I eclipse back into my mind. " What is your position soldier? Stand around and be jackasses?" "AH! My arm! Those fucking commies shot my arm off!" "Medic!" "Where is the drop point? I can't see SHIT" "See you later brother"

All of these different voices burst into my mind. I felt a shaking feeling as I gripped my hand as a wailing came about. I felt a cold headache erupting with the wailing, almost with unison each time a scream erupted. Muffled gunfire and more agonizing pain were everywhere.

"Remember Phachara, what you experience in Anchorage will have rebound effects. Hell, you shouldn't even be back in the field so quickly! If you have any flashbacks, any problems or headaches at all, just crouch down and braced for the end of the episode. Most troops back from the war suffer the same problems, mental instability, fractured memory, and severe episodes of stress. This is called post-traumatic stress disorder…"

Back prewar, Dr. Laurens had told me about what I got from the war, and that many others had gotten it too. PTSD episodes usually aren't this bad, but I felt that this one I am dealing with right now was heavily delayed. I see clips of Alaska, like the time our squad was ambushed at the camp, or a quick glimpse at the artillery guns.

I opened my eyes from a slumber on a bag on the ground. The calendar on the tent wall. I got up and scanned the room. There was another soldier sleeping in a fetus position in a corner, another soldier whispering to himself on a chair, and a doctor checking the pulse on a stretcher guy.

The lamp was flickering, attempting to grasp for more fuel but receiving none. My pal Marcus had his hands on his face and was mumbling some prayer in Latin. Marcus and I (Now I remember) were part of a unit that was supposed to parachute over the Artillery overlook but ended up in some cliffs very far away. The damn reds had shot down the plane before we could jump.

I stood up and went over to him, placing my hand on his shoulder, "It's going to be alright. We'll make it out of this, I mean the First Sergeant said that there will be new equipment coming in from the East. We just need to clear the path, that's all." Marcus nodded in agreement but kept his hands on his face. Now that I was much closer to him, I notice him rubbing his cross and it wasn't Latin he was mumbling either.

I stepped outside the infirmary, only to witness more hell. After the last attack of the Chinese invisible death squad, the camp only had one-third of the original population. There was a severe shortage of doctors at site Charlie after the Chinese had cut us off from the ports so many of the injured lay helplessly on the ground. There was a crater where the campfire use to be, probably a mortar shell fractured that, and several tents blackened from the fire started in the chaos. The smokey remains lay as a reminder of what nights can bring in.

I felt hungry and very tired, last night was my first night in a while where I got 3 hours of sleep. Not that there was much of a sleep with the agonizing screams and bullets firing every second. If the new equipment were to arrive, we need to push the commies away from the port. That would mean securing the death trenches and the port. Outta be a piece of cake... if it wasn't for the Chinese being in every fucking corner.

At 8 hundred hours, I have to be part of a team that will breach the trenches. It's about 7:47 so I might as well get started on it. I grabbed my rifle and booked it out. " Lieutenant Phachara, We need to breach the Chinese occupied trenches 1 click away from here. You'll be with Staff Sergeant Doniven's group to the site. Go now! The artillery is on hold." Those were the orders from last night. There wasn't much defense left after last week's battle, with the Camera tanks crushing the steel walls we set up.

"Over here Man!" I ducked quickly into a crater in the ground where several soldiers lay huddled in. Private Velediaz, who was assigned with me when we first parachuted down, was reassigned to maintain the T-45s. He was in a power armor suit as well, laying quietly in the crater. I heard, from Velediaz, that Washington is attempting to send more advanced armor to us but kept getting cut off by anti-air fire. "Doniven is in the crater Northeast of here, You can't miss him. Good luck in that hell hole." What a great buddy huh? That's why we need the ports open as quick as possible.

There was someone in the camp that earlier parachuted in with us that are dealing with the artillery but they seem to be nowhere to be found. There was dirt flying everywhere as I approached the death pits. "Get over here, Lieutenant! Watch your head. Poke your heads out too long and you'll get blown to bits. That's what happened to the retarded Corporal Avery." I ducked and barely missed a bullet.

There was some heavy suppressive fire coming across the trenches, that I can tell. "What's the plan?" I asked as I checked my ammunition. The snow was gathering quick, a nice cover for us. My combat knife was a bit dull but should work fine, the rifle was in pretty bad condition but my 10mm pistol should provide enough to plow through the defenses.

The Staff Sergeant pointed to me and a guy near me, there were 5 of us there. "You two are to distract the gung-ho guy, the rest of us will rush the guy from under him. The building he is on seems to be a 3 story building. Alright, let's move out!" The minute the guy next to me poked his rifle and head out of the crater, a bullet crammed itself into his skull. The blood splattered all over my clothes and gun.

The bullets fired at me were rapid, like angry bees looking for a target to sting. I attempted to fire back at him to get his attention, only to be responded with a volley of lead. "Gah!" a sharp pain erupted from my right bicep. I can see from the corner of my eye, my team running ahead and taking cover behind some trees. I weaved back and forth, between ditches and craters.

Eventually, I hid behind some knocked over crates. I could hear crashing and more firearms going off. I peeked above the crates to see that Donivin and the others had successfully breached the lower part of the building. The Chinese gunner stopped firing at me and seemed to have moved away from the window, maybe aware of the situation.

I jumped over the several crates and ran inside the partially destroyed concrete building. There were bullet holes and shells everywhere, even going as far as laser marks. I took out a stimpack and injected myself, to heal from the through and through bullet that came out my right arm. A soldier lay hidden behind a column, obviously guarding the staircase. "Where's Donivin?" I asked. "Upstairs dealing with the commie, I was assigned to wait for you."

I adjusted my rifle strap and nodded for us to head upwards. The time was roughly sometime past ten but I can't really tell as none of us actually had any clocks on us. When I arrived upstairs, Donivin was kneeling at leg level with a knife wedged into a commie soldier. "Now tell me about the Trench Defenses ahead. We know that there are nasty traps lying everywhere in the snow, especially the trenches."

"我不知道！我被分配到處理你，美國豬!" Donivin continued to interrogate the guy until our medic arrived. "Sorry Sir, I was held up at base camp with the wounded." Donivin turned, stained with blood and dirt, and asked, "Yes, I wanted to know if you can translate Mandarin since none of us can understand what this commie is saying."

The commie soldier was barely still conscious, having to bleed a lot, and was just audible enough to say "嘿!白色！你不会收到我的任何信息。死在一条沟猪!" The medic frowned and responded, "不要那么无礼如果我在你的位置，我会安静的" The Commie froze in fear now, not moving his lips. "告诉我有关沟槽内的任何陷阱。我们可以让你跑。" our medic responded again. "決不!".

Donivin shoved the knife further into the guy and whispered something. I poked my head outside the doorway to see if our demolitions expert is still there. Sure enough, he was, just busy cleaning his rifle. Sounds of artillery shells exploding can be heard 24 hrs a day, and at this time it was more aggressive, maybe a sign that they know we are pushing in. Donivin came downstairs in a rush and strapped his backpack on. He looked rather pissed, "Time to go gents, the trenches is not far from here but be on alert. We are expecting plenty of company. When in the trenches, rendezvous with Golf and Hotel company." He reached into his pack and pulled a cigarette.

"Let's not be blunt, (he says as he is trying to light his bud in this weather) most of us at the end of the day won't make it. Once we rendezvous with Golf and Hotel, push them reds into the harbor where our boys in power armor will cut off their exit." He gave up lighting the cigarette and threw the lighter in the snow. "Move out!" I grabbed my pack in the snow and ran out. Our medic ran with us as we approached the death pits. With the snow sprinkling on my back and a glaring sun beaming on my helmet, we trotted towards the death pits.

But the minute I looked away from Donivin, a large burst of a piercing boom happened next to me and I went flying to my right. I landed in a pile of mud and snow, confused about the what just happened. "Staff Sergeant is down! It's an ambush!" "Watch the left!" "They're everywhere!" I lifted my face and almost wished I never did.

There were soldiers erupting from concealed tunnels in the snow and shoving bayonets into our squad. Our demotions guy fired several shots into the face of one before being swarmed with knives on his back. Our medic was dragging someone away and the rest of the squad was getting overwhelmed. "Pick up a rifle and start shooting Lieutenant!"

I grabbed the rifle and fired 5.56 mm rounds into as many targets as I can. A shot ricocheted off one guy and into a tree, another plunged deep into another red, sending him back. It was chaotic as hell. "Grenade out! Get down!" A grenade flew and smacked a soldier in the face before promptly splattering pieces of him in the snow, leaving a smoldering black crater. "撤退!" "Chase them out of here!" Several of us chased them out while firing at them.

The red soldiers ran into the maze that they call trenches of death so we stopped. "Phachara! Throw the incendiary grenade in there! Burn the fuckers!" I quickly took out an incendiary grenade marked BETTER DEAD THAN RED and pulled the pin. I chucked it into the trench and took aim. There was a large burst and a few screams before a soldier ran out covered in flames. BANG!

I pulled the trigger and climbed the log that I took cover in. Our radio guy contacted HQ, "Requesting artillery support or a bombing run at grid Omega 3, repeat, Requesting artillery support or a bombing run at grid Omega 3!" Our Corporeal pointed at me and another to get close and push in. As we rushed into the trenches, there was another wave of soldiers that rushed us as we turned the corner. A foggy haze started to roll in now.

Doc had said not to suppress my memories but I just keep doing it. Everything goes by in a flash, like chapters in a book. I blur much of the battles into one pile of shit. There are still bits and pieces that aren't piecing together but I think I have a gist of it. All I could remember after entering the trenches was that the artillery support was denied and that we faced heavy resistance. Golf and Hotel company finally reached us but after we lost our radio and demolitions specialists.

We lost 9 of the 11 guys that came with us, I'm not sure if Donivin or the medic made it out. After the skirmish, the medic dragged Staff Sergeant off the field. We had orders to keep pushing so that's what we did. Lost a lot of good men. Eventually, we made it to the ports. Someone apparently had taken out the enemy artillery fire and General JingWai so much of the enemy was heavily demolished in ranks and morale.

We quickly picked off the scattered remains as they hightail it to the dock, only to be cut off by our boys in power armor. I got promoted for my "bravery in the battle" but I didn't feel happy about it. A new burst of white light as a shaking feeling dragged me out. I felt someone grabbing me and talking to me.

"He's regaining conscious, Wake up Master Sergeant!" I opened my eyes and saw Nicole squatted over me. "Hey, you still breathing? You were out for a couple minutes." God, I should really consult with a medical professional about this, my headaches and flashbacks only get worse as I experience more war.

"Yeah, I am…. Sorry, must've been a headache or something. ( I groaned) Let's go" The First Sergeant stared at me but reluctantly didn't ask too much. I got up from the ground and dusted the dirt off my uniform. My tie still looks like a mess but durable. At least the dirt doesn't show in the brown outfit.

We passed multiple buildings and offices until we reached Barrick section 6. The troops looked young, maybe just recently 18 or so when they joined. Nicole glanced at my face and responded, " Yeah, most of the senior troops were sent a bit north, near the hoover dam to deal with the remaining pockets of legion there. We may have pushed them back up there... but down here is a different story, don't expect we would not run into any scavengers or deserters down here. After Caeser, their leader, had died, the legion fell apart bickering against each other for control of the armies. Basically, a civil war erupted, with the NCR cleaning the remains."

The troops were still attempting to get geared up as Nicole was talking. The brown uniforms should help with camouflage into the desert but I fear the inexperience in weapons could prove lethal in casualties. I went through different scenarios on the possibilities about the fate of my soldiers. As the commanding officer, I felt a bit nervous as the rapid promotion from General Lee wasn't deserved. I pretty much run at first sight of combat back then (In Navarro).

Again though, I am no longer going to represent myself of the past so I did have to cut ties, but it felt a bit stingy to me that I left my fellow soldiers and officers to deal with the intruder on their own back in Navarro. "Hey, Master Sergeant Arromdee? Didn't you understand what I just stated?" I gripped back into reality, out of a deep trance and snapped a look at Nicole, "Huh? What?" She rolled her eyes, "The vertibird is fueled and the troops are geared up and awaiting your orders. Hurry the fuck up"

Realizing that a bunch of troops was watching me, I immediately stood straight shouted, "Alright troopers, we have new orders to hold Yucca military airport in Arizona until regiment A2 arrives. We radio into A2 when we secured the facility. I will be overwatching your progress as your CO. I am Master Sergeant Arromdee, this is First Sergeant Nicole. Both of us will give you orders on what to do. The birds are ready so we will get our ride there.

The birds should be able to take us within 2 clicks of the airport before having to return for fuel. Dismissed." The soldiers saluted and shouted in unison, "Yes Sir" and left. Nicole and I followed suit, just slower.

"My rifle is ready for any trouble, how about yours?" Nicole responded, "Yeah, my shotgun is already loaded too. By the way (Uh oh, that tone doesn't sound good), how did you end up as Master Sergeant anyway? You don't look very dedicated to the cause." I quickly turned my head away from her eyesight.

"General Lee discovered me and my experience as a… ranger from Utah. I was just patrolling and shot some legionaries there so I already had some attention from the NCR. General Lee just wanted to gather as many soldiers as he could so here I am, a loyal soldier of the NCR."

(I knew reading up on the Rangers would pay off. Hopefully, that lie passed.) She kept at a steady pace, analyzing what I just spewed out. "Alright then, I'll bite. You had combat experience and Oliver like that." We finally reached the Vertibirds, all fueled up, and halted.

The troops already gathered in two of the three vertibirds here so We (Nicole and I) stepped into the Cactus 5. "Cactus 5 ready to lift, what about you guys?" Our pilot started the engines and we lifted off. "Sandy Shades and Red Scare is online and lifting." I gathered my thoughts as the outpost started to fade into a speck in the distant.

If I were to serve Oliver, I need to ditch the extra pair of eyes somehow, I really don't like to have such a tight noose around me at all times in Arizona. And thus, I planned the possible outcomes that would lead me to fight to good fight alone.


	6. Chapter 5, Crawl out through the Fallout

Chapter 5: Crawl out through the Fallout

"Crawl out through the Fallout baby...When they drop that bomb" The radio felt nice to listen to, even if the New Vegas radio host constantly advertise. The Vertibirds have not yet arrived at the drop point yet so I seem to have some time to dwell. Nicole was leaning her head against a backpack, snoozing away. I was still up wondering the topic of my family. Are any of them still alive? Did any make it? If so, are they ghouls? General Lee mentioned how radiation affected some people to the point where they have a longer lifespan. Not that I've seen any personally, but the enclave had always talked about ridding of impurities.

I continued to dwell on the thoughts of my family before switching to the subject of the NCR. It would be bad if anyone figures that I was a former Enclave member. The wind softly howls against the engines as the vehicle rocked back and forth. It was a bit numbing, and a challenge to stay awake. The radio faintly discussed the news of NCR occupation in New Vegas experiencing leftover Caesar troops still stubborn to leave. California had been reduced to dust and heat from the bombs, if it was bad here, how was DC like?

I remember the Enclave radio discussing about retreating to DC site but is it even worth it? What would I gain from joining back? There are so many thoughts going through my head as I decide my next course of action. " This is Cactus 5, We are approaching the site. Landing in 1 minute. Gather your gear, sir."

Nicole lifted her head from rest and blankly looked around. I casually (or tried to) joked, "I guess nap time's over, let's go." She gave me a quick groan and sat back up. "Alright, to recap. We are to be dropped off, approach and hold Yucca Airport till the other group's meetup. This is really simple."

I nodded but asked, "What if we get separated or if something happens to the site?" She responded with her head checking her back, "Then we head East. General Lee instructed that when Yucca gets captured, we would head towards Oklahoma with the others. There is some trouble there. Along the way, we would run into a skirmish in New Mexico with possible Legionaries. The NCR is supposed to push and corner the Legionaries in New Mexico but several Rangers need help in Oklahoma and Texas. The Brotherhood might get in our way so watch for them." I made a glance back, "Who?" She stopped and stared at me, "The… Brotherhood? Of Steel? The guys with power armor? You don't remember the NCR and Brotherhood war?" I shooked my head. The vertibird just touched the ground before she could respond.

We jumped out to only see an empty, vast desert with several brushes of life. I turned to my right and left and saw that Shady Sands and Red Scare landed before us. The troops were already set up and awaiting our command. "Time to head out."

We continued to stroll for a couple clicks until we came across a downhill. Private Wilkins stepped climbed down first, followed by Private Reynolds and Davidson. I followed suit and only walked two steps in front of a boulder before a large bang echoed. Almost like slow motion, Wilkins fell backward screaming. Davidson and Reynolds took cover behind some sharp boulders as the rest of us hid in any place possible.

"Sniper! Get Down!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. The potshots kept coming and coming. "Sir! We can't stay here, we need to get to a better vantage point so we can fire back!" I checked my right and pointed to a guy. "We'll rush and run to the fence! You and Harold will support us in covering fire. Got it?" The guy panicky nodded and held his rifle eagerly. I held my hand up and signaled forward. I jumped over the rocks and ran forward towards the chain linked fence.

There was so much firing now, with covering fire and all of us rushing. I threw my rifle over the fence and started climbing. Nicole was with another group hitting a bit more East and broke through a gate. When my group and I landed on the other side, we were met with more shots. 2 more soldiers fell as we took cover behind some crates. I peeked at the cover that the shots came from, recognizing that the shooters are hidden behind some vehicles. I cracked a smile for the first time in a long time, our luck is getting much better.

I knew that most vehicles ran with nuclear fission so, with just one ignition, we could "accidentally" make a mini nuke. I threw a grenade at the cover of the attackers and boy, it blew up like a beautiful mushroom cloud. My Geiger counter sparked into life but I didn't care. The warmth of that blast and the cloud assured me that we have the upper hand now. My radio blasted in, "Sergeant Arromdee, the gunners pinned us down near the Eastern guard post and barracks, we need assistance." I grabbed my radio and answered, "Yes, we're on our way."

I signaled to the others in my group to move to the Eastern Barracks. When we approached, I was surprised heavily. The Gunners managed to get a hold of some plasma weapons and a Mr. Gutsy. They were occupied with the Eastern NCR group than with ours at the moment so we had that advantage. We slid behind some sandbags and reloaded. My squad fired into the backs of the gunners and it was a quick battle.

The gunners were caught so fast, they didn't have time to react to us. Our snipers also joined in the fight, but only to pick off any stragglers. "South is secured. We'll go secure the rest of the site sir." and our squad left. I examined the plasma pistol and took it. "Arromdee, We got an issue. The others that we were suppose to group up with isn't responding. Apparently, they landed further North of us and was heading here when they were ambushed by a group of sorts. We need to lockdown and garrison this base till we can get in contact with headquarters." I stood still for a minute.

What did she say? Is our backup gone? Who could have ambushed and killed them so easily? We had some high tech weapons, according to Nicole, and 2 guys with salvage power armor. "Sir! Johnson and Davidson encountered trouble in the North hanger! Some guys in power armor breached our base!" We took out our rifles and ran to the location. What the hell? I thought the gunners didn't have any serious threatening items? What is going on?

A large explosion and another mushroom cloud blew up, only this time, it was huge. "Fatman! Fatman projectile! Those bastards are tearing our friends apart!" I ran behind a large crate and peered the corner. Some NCR troopers are already running away, with a few staying and firing back.

Then, a huge burst of lasers and spray of bullets later, those troops disappeared into sludge or corpses. Shit, this is not good. The remains of troops that had survived started to fall back at that point. "For the REPUBLIC!" The trooper next to me ran recklessly in, followed by Nicole. I tried to halt the reckless charge but I was too slow.

Nicole shouted something along the lines of wait for us but she was also too late. I decided to follow with before a huge explosion knocked me back. A piercing ringing fell upon my slightly deafen ears as debris splat everywhere. A piece of concrete hit my head a bit too hard when I landed, and I blacked out, also bleeding out.

I opened my eyes with aching pain in my head. I felt like I had the worst hangover ever, with burns on my arms and my armor. The rocket that was fired on us broke my outer armor, rendering it useless, as well as my rifle which is lying to my right in pieces. The sky was darker than the afternoon sky I saw when we landed in Cactus 5. I slowly flipped over and pushed myself back up. I could feel my right leg painfully trying to resist my movement and I understand why. I looked down at my right leg and discovered that it was facing the wrong way and shape.

My tibia (leg) broke through my skin and had been poking out. God, the pain was increasing, the shock must've worn out. I shakingly grabbed my bag and dragged it across to me. I dumped its contents until I saw some bandages and a stimpack. I grabbed them and went to fix my leg. Slowly, I snapped the bone back into place with much hesitation and bandaged it. After a few seconds of pain, I stabbed the wound with the stimpack to cauterize it.

A few minutes later, I lifted my right leg onto the concrete. The miracles of stimpacks and bandages are amazing because my leg is all better. I stood back up and examined my surrounding, and notice the several bodies on the ground. I examined one of them and recognized her, it's Nicole. She must've been closer to blast radius than I was, meaning the soldier that lead her to her demise must be ashes by then. There were also some bodies in armor ahead too, just not the NCR armor.

As I approached, I saw a weird symbol upon them, It was a sword between two leaves, with the insignia inscribed AD VICTORIAM. Confusingly, I checked the assailant pockets, to find a note inscribed with orders. The orders read, " Elder requested that we secure the Yucca site and strip any tech from the NCR. The NCR itself is getting a bit too close to us, so eliminate any squads in your path. Let none live. If any are injured to the point of either near death or otherwise, you are instructed to leave them behind. We must recover the data from the facility from both Yucca airport and Oklahoma city. This is a key factor in the survival of all of us. Ad Victoriam, brothers and sisters. Signed, BOS Paladin Quin" I was confused at the term, "BOS" and went over to the hanger that they might've looted, according to the note.

According to Nicole, prior to her death, this site had some tech detailing another site of higher importance that could turn the tide of the war. Even with Caesar dead, the legion still resist heavily against the NCR expansion and formed a separate branch, like the Legion, to fight the NCR. It is pretty successful as we are struggling to keep pushing East. Honestly, I am a bit curious at this info that the base will provide. Considering the devastation on both troops on both sides, this must be one hell of a data archive.

I approached the hanger slowly, and glared into there. The vertibird that was suppose to be there for NCR pickup was missing as well as a variety of other equipment. However, I realized that there was one figure in the very back, shifting on a table, geared in a suit of T-60 power armor. I positioned my pistol and switched off the safety. I took my left foot over the hanger divider and slowly hid behind cover for each inch I approach.

The figure seemed to be alive but in severe pain, physically moving to get assistance. When I came about 15 feet from his table, he peered towards my direction. Click! We both armed and pointed our firearms at each other. "Who are you? What… are you doing here?" I questioned the person. The figure gestured around, "Obviously been left for dead from a scavenging mission. Other than that, you don't need to know, civilian."

I gripped my pistol tighter, "Civilian? You are the one that ambushed a New California Republic battalion here and left me heavily injured. Your people killed everyone else. You are the civilian here, not me. And you shouldn't play dress up either, raider." He/She gasped in pain and held his/her right arm on his/her torso. "Fuck off Mr. officer, I've through enough hell for the day and I had nothing to do with the battle here. (The soldier seemed to be in pain, might've lost too much blood waiting for help.) I was injured on the way here when we came across some hostiles." I immediately replied, "Look, seems like both of us are alive when we should've died. Let's be adults and put our weapons down. Alright?"

The figure hesitated for a moment, then nodded. I decided to be better man and down my pistol, and soon the figure followed. I don't trust the person but I might as well try to help him as another human being, even if their squad murdered innocent 18 year olds. I took one step forward and immediately again, he shoved his laser rifle at my face. "Wooh, Calm down there. I'm just trying to see if you need some help bandaging and stopping the bleeding. No need to be hostile" I might as well help the soldier, considering the state in which he or she is in. I still don't trust whatever faction he was from, considering he wiped out our forces, but damn it all if I will leave a wounded person for dead.

I cautiously approached the wounded soldier with my hands out, one of which contains a roll of bandages and a stimpack. The soldier was still squirming about when I injected them with the stimpack. "What's your name anyway?" The person remain silent to my question. "I'm Master Sergeant Arromdee from the NCR, I was headed East when you ambushed us out here. Where were you headed?" The soldier sat right up and examined their wound, "Knight Harrison, BOS." I stood a bit confused, "BOS? What's BOS?" The power armor of his started creaking as he got off the table. "Brotherhood of Steel, you've never heard of such a thing? I expected you to have a general idea after the war we had against you NCR."

I shook my head as i walked back to the entrance of the hanger. "Nah, I was originally from an area far from the NCR but they incorporated us in. WE had no idea about this war you talk about. (Using Johnothen's background ain't exactly guilt-free but it was something to save my skin) All I know is that you attacked us." He checked his ammunition belt for more ammo, frustrated that it's low, and moved to the hanger's door.

"Look, just don't get in my way. I need to head East." I was surprised by his sudden urge to keep moving. "Hey, you just got patched up, you need to rest first. HEY! Listen, I shouldn't have patched you up but I did, so at least listen to me. The journey East will be dangerous as much of the former legion will await us. Don't go alone." He was already a bit far away by my protest. He radioed, "Are you offering to go East with me?"

"Considering we are both supposed to head East, we might as well team up." (Stupid idea, considering this guy will probably shoot me the first chance he gets. But I need some armor to cover me if I was to head East. It'll be a rough journey) The Brother just turned around and shrugged. His slightly steel colored armor was slowly rusting away, with signs of damages sustained in an unknown battle.

"Fine, just don't hold me back. (An unstable alliance, woo…) I'm headed to Oklahoma City. We'll split once we arrive, deal?" At this point, I would take any assistance that I could get. I nodded and followed with. We passed through the outer gates of the airport only to see more result of the carnage. Several NCR soldiers lie face down in the sand, most likely running away from the brotherhood behind them that opened fire and scorched the NCR's backs. "Why did you guys attack us?" I asked.

The soldier just kept moving along, not caring about the fallen soldiers. "Like I said, scavenging mission. We were ordered to head here to extract data and various other equipment by any means necessary. Our Paladin took it a bit too serious and felt that it was the best course of action to exterminate any hostiles, civilian, NCR, doesn't matter. Elder Maxson would probably not approve of that, as we ended the war and is on good terms with the NCR. But... actions had to be made and certain sacrifices had to happen to be ahead of the enemy."

More bodies were trailing out, leading the direction we were suppose to head. The hot wind was blowing the sand over the bodies, but not enough to cover their terrified faces. The NCR must've retreated to the East. I felt guilty being alive when the others had passed away, being the part of the last survivors. The last time I had a memory similar to this was back in the United States, January 24, 2077. A memory that wasn't as suppressed as the other memories.

Time was roughly… 0827 in the morning of 2077. After the events of Anchorage, most of the soldiers were shipped West into China. However, a small number of those forces are ordered to remain in American cities to control the rising tensions. Ever since oil prices hit 7999.98 dollars, tensions between the civilians and military has been ever so increasing.

I know of this ever since back in January of 2076, we fully annexed Canada. Rioters are reported everywhere, even the least populated cities out there. Denver had burned down from both the plague and scared looters. I remember a friend back in Anchorage that also served as infantry in the 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. Army. Last I saw him, he was headed home to Boston to his wife, Nora or something like that. Anyway, both of us were sent back to the United States rather than China, which was a relief.

He contacted me the other day about rough tensions in the NorthEast, including some fighting over food stamps. The electricity was still chugging through there, which made things easier for him. Over in Los Angeles, much of the civilian sector is blacked out due to worries of both bombing and over-consumption of electricity.

Our reactors were having problems keeping up with demand, not to mention the low staff counts. It was no longer Chinese that we had to worry about… it's our fellow Americans. Lieutenant Nate decided to retire from the military activities but I still remain up to my leave in December of 76. I wonder how he was doing before the bombs dropped, and whether he survived or not. I pray that he died a quick, painless death. It would be much better than the alternative, being stuck scavenging one day at a time for food and supplies in the fallout.

During January of 76, I was just recently trained by Staff Sergeant Peterson on how to properly get into Power armor and deployed into the city of angels to keep riots down when hell broke loose. I was with a patrol down on 18th street, walking in my T-51 back and forth the street when a window broke. I turned and only saw a small object fall out, hitting the pavement and forming a ring of fire. "Molotov! Watch out!"

We all took cover behind some rubble, taking out our weapons. I knew that Los Angeles was in turmoil after the food started running thin and the electricity goes out. This area was under martial law and locked down tight. Private Richard gestured toward the building but was shot in his back by someone behind us. "Shooters both front and back! Private Richard's down! Civilians opening fire everywhere!"

More citizens emerged from the lobby of the buildings, all angry and armed with something, and rushed at us. "Fire! Open Fire! Kill them all!" I shouted more orders to the squad. Though the civilians had numbers, many died due to our more advanced weapons. Not that I enjoyed firing on the citizens.

"Fuck You! You did this to us!" one protester shouted before being blasted with a mouthful of lead. I quickly kept firing my rifle at any of those that rushed us. The street was soaked in blood and burnt ashes. Anderson took a hit in the leg by a metal pipe while i was busy shooting as many as I can in non-lethal areas. I didn't want to kill my fellow Americans, even if they want to harm me. The remains of the rioters ran off. That was not the first encounter I had with angry rioters that hoped to steal weapons from dead soldiers to fight back.

There was too much violence going on. I remember the news of cities like Houston that was struck with the plague after rioters overturn the city in one moon. Not only had I been worried on patrol for angry citizens, it's the infection that's going around that's very dangerous also.

The situation in America has gone worse, even prior to the nuclear missiles dropping on us. I filed for mental illness (The PTSD issue that I had been diagnosed about) and took my leave in December of that year, to retire as just a intelligence officer at my home that will deal with reports from China. That was the best decision I could've made as it lead me to the oil rig, but also the worst since I'm stuck in this hell.

"Arromdee, radiation is slowly going to climb as we head East. Do you hear me? We'll be approaching the nuclear bomb test sites soon so expect some ferals to charge at us." I came back from blanking out and looked around. We must've walked about a couple miles and yet I never noticed. "Huh? What?" Harrison took out his rifle, "Ferals might attack us as we approached the radiated locations. Get your weapon out."


	7. Chapter 6, Anything goes

Chapter 6, Anything Goes

The walls always felt cold, a constant reminder of the cage that trapped us. How could someone live in a vault for so long in these conditions? Ever since the increasing tensions between the Brotherhood uppers and the lowly grunts, caused by former member Veronica, things are very hostile back home.

My father was a scribe while my mother was a proud Knight, serving in patrols around the base. The only issue is, she was a bit of a never at home mother. At least Father stuck around longer than my mother, teaching me essential skills like managing various weapons, basic engineering and science, and various other skills. I wanted to make him proud, to be able to prove that I was a great son.

" Harrison!" Huh? I snapped back to see Mr. Benedict glare at me. The entire class had turn around to watch him chew me out. "Yes sir." I quickly answered. My teacher pointed to the board behind him, filled with a strange equation that I had no idea. "What is the answer to number 7, Mr. Harrison." Gulping, I croaked out a random answer, "76?" A couple of my classmates snickered.

"Mr. Harrison, if you wish to sloth around in my lectures, we can arrange a meeting with the head of sanitation for you to apply." Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention that I was lucky to end up as the intelligence coordinator. Thanks to my parents having intense arguments with the elder, I was able to slide into the unit of Knights, but as a intelligence officer. I remember my first time seeing an outsider in the base, some person that apparently wanted our help in the Hoover Dam fiasco.

The person covered their face real well, I couldn't tell if they were a man or a woman. All I knew was, Veronica was fucking back. That woman caused so much trouble back in Benedict's classes. She still apparently cause trouble, just by creating friction between the soldiers.

Always the freedom lover, goes on and on about how opening the base to traders will allow us to survive. True, we lost much of our forces in Helios One, but it shouldn't come to this. Things didn't go as planned for her, getting kicked out again, with the guest too. The only issue was that Quebec and Percy wanted to silence her, so they rounded some people to do that.

I still haven't heard from them yet, so that means they were unsuccessful. About two weeks after the Veronica visit, Paladin Quin rounded some people for a expedition east. I volunteered, and ended up going on a several year campaign.

My armor was formerly Knight Leonard's, but he died from both stage 5 fallout cancer and fucking Herpes. He contracted the second from a hooker when we passed through New Vegas, the idiot. We suffered more casualties when we came across the big divide, a giant hole reminding all of human consequences. Nick, our guide, led us through what I call, death canyon, which resulted in more lost of life. Deathclaws are the one thing that can terrify a grown Knight.

Quin decided, after heavy loss of life and humanity, to start hitting points of high technology, before coming across some schematics on Yucca Airport. I didn't know why we went, but the tech must be serious as he made us drop everything. Quin even ordered us to start taking no prisoners or witnesses along the way, which was a problem as we clashed with the NCR at the airport. I was shot with a metal fragment in my lower abdomen after a grenade blew my protective armor off. Quin wanted to get the tech so bad, fearing it to fall into enemy hands, so he left the sick/wounded.

Huzzar, that is how I ended up meeting Mr. I'm too good for everything. The Master Sergeant that have little clue on current events. He may sound authentically heroic, but I could tell that his arrogance will get the best of him. He never stops talking about what ifs on subjects of pre-war America and living in the past.

He thinks highly of himself as a changed man, but he seems different than the ways he describes himself. Always drifting off within his memory. And this was what I learned in the several days I have traveled with him. This is going to be a long journey.


	8. Chapter 7, The Wanderers

**Chapter 7, The Wanderers**

The wasteland, the most putrid thing to ever exist. Mutated remains of the past and experiments that have gone wrong and rotten, it's just a horrible place. Most of the Enclave that I knew and served with had always discussed the impurity of the land.

As such, I agreed to some degree. The mutated animals like giant crabs called Mirelurks should be eradicated, as well as certain groups of "humans" but it would be a stretch to call them that.

Those that survived the gut-wrenching radiation became monsters themselves, I could see this with every location we passed back in the NCR prior to being shipped to Arizona. According to General Lee, the NCR secured the SouthWestern section of the wasteland, rendering raiders and looters to a minimum but these groups are still out there in the rest of the wasteland, and some got very advanced to the point of the immediate purge.

That's what is happening right now with the Legion. Sergeant Nicole may not have realized in the long run but our orders weren't just round up the Legion and liberate them, it was to capture, extract information, and exterminate their ideology. In order to eradicate an idea, you have to cut the roots off, tear it till nothing remains to prevent future conflict.

President Kimball, though very aggressive in expressing this, understood that. That was why the Enclave was needed in the first place after the war, to eradicate the filth and establish order in the waste. Kimball is currently busy attempting to pursue this course by pushing Legion out and appearing peaceful for talks, but secretly also desires the New Californian Republic to be the new Government of the wasteland.

One thing though, I fucking hate Ghouls. I pumped so many of them with lead and they just won't stop moving. I know they aren't zombies or something, but the radiation had melted them to the point where internal organs that I shot at were just not doing the same amount of damage as something else.

"What the Hell?! Where do they keep coming from?" I shouted as more emerged from buildings. BAM BAM. My 10MM pistol ejected as many bullets as I can fire. " Old America use to use nearby towns in Arizona and New Mexico as test sites for all sorts of things, even horrendous experiments like radiation blanket on an entire town," Harrison responded quickly.

I started to get weary of my bullet count, fearing that there won't be enough for this situation. Pulling a Frag grenade from my belt, I chucked it over a collapsed wagon (Which I was using as cover. It didn't do that much good) and into one of the nearly collapsed building. I ducked as the rest of Wilco Apartments fell apart from the weakened beams. Damn, at this rate, we'll be arriving in coffins by the time we reached the former New Mexico.

I glanced over at Harrison, who was busy slamming a Feral into the rocky ground to bits and climbed over the wagon. Coughing, I covered my eyes to see through the dust. My pipboy beamed in the dark cloud, revealing this location to be Kingman, a former town north of Yucca. "Hey, it's clear. Harrison, there is a larger section of this town according to the pip boy map but I don't see it." Harrison chugged forward, standing next to me, and examining both the environment and my map.

"That's because it was wiped out. The bombs that fell left a storm of sand in the South West of America. It wiped out crops and spread radiation everywhere. High winds must've claimed this area for many years, to the point of burying the buildings with sand. If you want to resupply, you're going to have to get a shovel most likely"

I was struck with worry, scrunching my face and adjusting my glasses, no way did the bombs create this huge of a mess. I thought it was just the bombs that made the destruction but the radiation, the large amount of wind, and exposed uranium and plutonium cores left such a mark on the wasteland.

I mouthed, Shit, as I stared from left to right. There was once a thriving city here, and now it's encased in layers of sand and dirt. The wind was already starting to pick up here as it was approaching Night. "We need to take shelter and rest, the worst thing you'll encounter is fatigue, it's very fatal." I raspily said. Although he was occupied with checking at his fusion core level, he nodded to my request. I scanned the horizon again and noticed a few buildings intact. One of those would be great cover from the brewing sandstorm created by the changing climate. Thanks weather, for constantly trying to kill me.

"Harrison, that concrete building there! The small blue one! That's a good shelter." I shoveled through the thick sand to the building. When we made it inside, it looked much better than I thought. Some of the furniture was able to survive after all this time. I grabbed a couple wooden chairs, breaking the legs, and gather them on one area in the house. I turned to Harrison, "You got a light?" Harrison took out his laser rifle and shot the pile of wood, sparking it to life. That worked… I guess. I sat against the wall in front of the fire, painfully aware of the bruises back from the hanger.

Yep, the drugs are wearing off. Harrison set down across from me, clearly very exhausted. I grabbed a can of pineapple out and set it next to me, followed by a can of beans. "Want some?" He nodded but weakly. I slid the cans over to him. Harrison took off his helmet for the first time. It was clear, from the scars and rugged look, Harrison had been through much. His dark skin reminded me of some of those soldiers that were assigned to our division in Alaska.

Can't believe they let them in but I guess it's a war for everyone now. "Thanks. (This guy got to learn to chew with his mouth closed)" "Since we are going to be here a bit, what is your full name?" " Knight Frank Harrison, intelligence unit expert. I'm the minds behind battle tactics and outwitting the enemy." Huh, intelligence expert, strange position. I didn't expect a faction to have an intelligence expert. "Don't get too comfy, we'll be getting up in about the crack of dawn. We need to get to Oklahoma as soon as possible." Can't tell if I'm the one tagging along with him or he's the one tagging with me. The fire continued to crack away through the night as we slept.

At around the rising sun, I awoke to see the smoldering remains of a campfire and Frank already up. He was busy checking the window for any sign of trouble. I grunted as I got up, still aching from the explosive throw that knocked me out yesterday.

I checked my pipboy to see our progress, only to groan as we haven't approached the long 40 yet. I'm sure that there is a vehicle in repairable conditions in the long 40. At the current pace, we would make it to Flagstaff by either late tonight or early tomorrow. Depends on any trouble we run into. "Arromdee, let's get going, stop staring at your pipboy."

I sigh, this will be a long journey. Walking through the door, I examined the surrounding before departing. The heat reminded me of home. Man, I miss home, especially Bangkok, Thailand. I could still remember the hot summers and the constant rains. I'm surprised that the United States allowed any Asians to join the old war but then again, I am Thai, not Chinese. We continued to churn through the long 40, only running into sand or cactuses.

Every once in awhile, we would come across a car, only to find out that it's not in any good condition. The heat is such a nuisance, always glaring down on us at all times. Arizona is just as I guessed it would be, somehow much worse than the boneyard. "Oh yeah, I'm the type of guy that likes to roam around, I'm never in one place, I roam from town to town and when I find myself a-fallin' for some girl. Yeah, I hop right into that car of mine and drive around the world, Yeah I'm the wanderer, Yeah, the wanderer, I roam around, around, around." Interesting choice of music that the radio chose, I thought as we continued walking East on the 40.

I finally found the rest of my unit, just all dead on the road. It seems like the Enclaved managed to track the last few down and mowed them. These boys didn't stand a chance. At least I can return their dog tags when we get to Oklahoma. The bitter sand buried a bit of the soldiers, but we scavenged what we could. Some 45 ammo and a few pieces of high end dried food, enough to last us for a couple days if we ration it.

The tension between me and Harrison felt high, maybe it's because we haven't been talking for a bit since last night's conversation. Seems like when I try to dig into his past a bit, he clams up. Screw it, I'm going to attempt to break this tension.

"Ever heard of the American wars? Prior to the bombs dropping?" Harrison, if he wasn't wearing his helmet, might've frowned, I mean I wouldn't blame him. The question kinda came out of the blue. Damn it Phachara, you and your stupid mouth. "American Wars? Like the Sino-American war? The one that destroyed everything?"

"That's one but the Sino-American war was not the war that caused all of this, the great war was the war that ended the planet." "Uh-huh… Why do you know this?" I poked the bear and the bear fights back. "From the followers of the apocalypse, that's all." God, if this desert was just one state, it'll be hell to get to Oklahoma.

"Seligman city should be ahead, just another 3-hour walk." The radiation created some nasty creatures, one being the radscorpion. "Another one! Seriously?!" I pulled out my 10mm pistol and unloaded lead into the outer shell. Might as well throw rocks at it cause it's just pissing it off. Harrison charged forth with his power armor, sprinting until he reached the scorpion and slamming in with his power armor.

That's one great thing about Power Armor, it can withstand high altitudes and enormous pressure. The damn bug went flying everywhere, staining the armor too. "Uh, good job Harrison." He nodded. We continued East, occasionally running into remnants of legion forces. Seems like most of the forces might be in Texas fighting.

Town after town, all we saw were burnt buildings and corpses. The legion most likely came through here. My heart felt heavy when I noticed smaller corpses lying in the dirt, all huddled together. Fucking sick assholes, slaughtering children and their parents. The wasteland was a horrible place, one future that I never wanted.

"Christ, they nailed them to the poles too." I looked back at Harrison, who was staring at a couple power poles. I noticed what he was talking about, two children nailed to different crosses with the words NCR written all over the chest. What the actual hell? The fires on certain buildings still remain, meaning they were fresh enough. Maybe several days?

Depends on what mode of travel the Legion uses. Harrison and I walked through the town, not being able to scavenge anything as it most of the town was burnt. On the bright side, we made it to Seligman city, the downside is that we need to restock soon or we'll be screwed.

As we wandered East, we came across several signs with red fonts, "TURN BACK! DEATHCLAWS AHEAD". Oh, fun. For the next few hours, we had to sneak through the territory, occasionally running into an angry beast.

The worst was when we approached an overturned car and a deathclaw jumped on top of the car, roaring at us. We quickly took aim and was about to fire but then another deathclaw showed up to our right. We could've died, but we were saved.

When we were busy firing at the deathclaws, a figure approached from behind the car. The figure took out what seems to be a grenade launcher and fired several shots. The shots scared off the deathclaw on the right but hit directly on the one charging at us. The deathclaw pieces were everywhere.

Nervously, I aimed my 10mm pistol at her. "Who are you?" The figure took off its hood, revealing a mid-twenties woman with red hair. She had a bandana on her face with the number 34 on it. "A savior by the looks of it. A thank you would be nice." Harrison immediately retorted, "We had it handled." The mysterious woman raised an eyebrow. "Really? That's an interesting way to describe almost getting killed."

She sighed and pointed behind her. "Look, I'm just headed East to regroup with the other NCR. My orders are to report in and provide assistance to the struggle. Since one of you is NCR, I'm coming with you. If you guys are headed there of course." At first, I was confused, then I realized she was referring to me. "Oh, uh… sure." "You are NCR… aren't you?" She asked. I quickly responded, "Yes I am, but I was just separated from my group. We were supposed to also be stationed in Oklahoma. What's your name?" The woman was already starting to head up the road. "Name's Amber, Private Amber Lillian."


	9. Extra Content Updated

**Story Arch and Extra Content Part 1**

Main Characters

 **Phachara Arromdee's branch/story**

Born before the war, he (due to his brother's efforts in some big science breakthrough) was quickly evacuated off the coast of California onto an oil rig before being cryogenically frozen. He was thawed out 138 years later, now part of an Enclave patrol in the Mojave. From the events that transpired in Fallout 2, his home (oil rig) was blown up, leaving him alone. Due to desire not to die alone, he froze himself. He decided (after awakening) to join the NCR military and their values, eventually earning a big title. (Formerly a Lieutenant in Enclave) Currently deployed as a Master Sergeant leading the charge against the Enclave and Caesar's legion in the Heart of former America.

 **Franklin Harrison's branch/story**

A Brotherhood of steel member, grew up with the brotherhood ideals before being deployed Mid-West. This was the fight for the Heart of America. Reports of high tech resources and untouched nuclear missiles lay hidden there. Both the Enclave and Brotherhood will clash here as they meet other factions including the ever so ambitious NCR, Texas Rangers, and the infamous Caesar's legion over this technology. When left for dead in Yucca, he will face challenges to survive. What will remain of the factions, what will the prize be and how will the wasteland provide for thirsty tyrants? This faithful Knight will face difficulties far beyond his comprehension and come across the hidden secrets of the Steels.

Fun Facts

 _Fun Fact: After Fallout originally was planned to be a Fallout mod, not just a fanfiction story._

 _Fun Fact: P.A Valentine does not for Phachara Arromdee Valentine, it actually is just a placeholder name._

 _Another Fun fact: Originally, the story of Phachara Arromdee was supposed to correlate to the Lone Wanderer's father but the author felt it was silly to incorporate ANOTHER fanfiction about the characters in the Fallout series. Through, After Fallout does mention a variety of characters from the game series._

 _Another Fun fact: The mod , that was supposed to be available on NEXUS, the full title was Fallout: Awakening. Also, this fanfiction was supposed to graduate to possibly be a book someday._

After Fallout

After Fallout is the concept of survivability. It takes heros to win battles but it takes a much larger force to win wars. Each character represents an idea, an idea on survivability and what a sole hero can't achieve merely with overpowering abilities. Phachara: Keep your head down. Franklin: Loyalty can get you only so far. Amber: Sometimes you need to think things out rather than charging head on. It takes commitment and the will to continue that wins the war in the end, not some low life courier or a survivor of a vault. Life in and after a nuclear fire strengthens the idea that the Wasteland is a tough place,and not everyone can survive it and remain intact.


	10. The Hell-Boys Entries 1 of 3

**The Hell-Boys Entries 1/3**

I know for a fact that the boys back in Washington created a simulation based on the experiences of the 401st hell-boys, that was our unit in Alaska. Too bad I never got to experience the simulation that they made. They were still, last I heard, working out some kinks with the machine when the bombs dropped. I still remember the experience of the drop with the 401 too well.

"Name's Sergeant Benjamin Montgomery, boys. We'll be parachuting in soon at the drop point." The Anchorage War has lasted far too long for comfort, even if we are starting to push them back with the T-51s. My parachute felt heavier by the minute as we started our approach to the green light zone. "Remember to meet up at point Victor! If we are separated for any reason, report back to point Beta. There will be heavy red resistance, so you better have wrote a hell of a goodbye to your love ones. Give them hell, hell-boys!"

Marcus was over by the Sergeant but I could still see his fear. Poor guy, lost his brother in the annexation of Canada a bit back. I'm not sure if my brother is doing as well back in the U.S, not that I ever saw him since we parted ways in college. My watch said it was 7:32, perfect time as sunrise started to come up. The orange glow revealed how close we are to the mountains, which didn't give me much comfort.

There were others also on the plane, but I couldn't remember them or much of the trip there. What I could remember, was that it happened too fast, happened in less than a few seconds. BANG, an artillery shell scaved our rightmost engine. Anti-Air shells blew up all around us as our pilots fought the descending plane.

Flames flumed out as the pilot yells for us to bail out. "SHIT! Sir, what's the drop point now?" One of the jumpers asked, panicky. "Anywhere but here soldier, now jump!" The plane was struggling to keep level, jerking left and right as we start to tumble about.

One of those shells exploded near the right door, blowing a poor soul to bits. By now, the squad was bailing as fast as they could. Sergeant bailed out with another soldier, while I bailed with Marcus. The air felt tight, bitterly cold when I poked my head out the door. As we dropped in altitude, the thumping of the engines started to slow and the transporter leaned right. The high winds from the cliffs definitely made the experience much more treacherous than expected.

Sarge and I split due to the high winds, with him landing somewhere further West with another soldier, and me, by myself with Marcus in the more… shallow area. More paratroopers were hurdling out as fast as they could all around us. The plane, now leaving a huge smoking trail, was diving down, spiraling above us until it crashed on a mountain. God Blessed those pilots, going down trying to save us all.

The rumble caused a slight avalanche, hopefully burying some reds. Our landing site was supposed to be near the oil pipes but we were way off course by that point. The shrapnel from the shells bursting above us tore a few holes in my chute. Marcus and I landed in a hole on the side of a cliff, softened by the new snow.

As I struggle to untangle the chute from my face, I heard a noise. Immediately, I rushed to take the cover off, to reveal several Reds who were previously playing a card game. We pulled out our rifles and a firefight ensued. Marcus fired his sidearm as fast as he could during our retreat behind some rocks and an overturned table.

I jumped and took cover behind a boulder on the ground as bullets passed by us. Bang, Bang, BANG, BANG! The fight gets louder as the enemy managed to get their weapons and are retaliation. "在那边！得到那些猪！" Marcus fired several rounds on his right and managed to down the Chinese commando who was shouting at us. I leaned to the left and pulled my trigger rapidly, getting the last two.

We (Marcus and I) emerged after that, looking back at each other. "Fun start, nothing like boot camp though." Marcus remarked and I retaliated with, " No kidding, the targets didn't fire back at us for a start. Alright, Serge told us to meet at point Beta if we are ever separated. That's those oil pipes we saw coming in." Marcus nodded as he stepped towards a table with a radio. I decided to search the commando, maybe he has something useful to us. Damn, Marcus is a great shot, right between the eyes.

The sergeant would love to have seen that, especially back when we kept missing our shots in the camp. "Hey, Arromdee. This place may have been a listening post. Seems like the fucking reds were listening in to all of our conversations back at base David, there are notes scribbled in both English and Chinese on this. (He lifts a notepad) I think they knew we were coming, just not when.

Fucking hell, they even knew about Operation Anchorage." I stared back above the hole we fell through, those fucking red spies have truly are reliable to the reds. I hate them so much at the moment, but I can't focus on us flying to a slaughter, we have to move soon. "Find anything else that might help us, Marcus?" He shook his head and regrouped with me.

His right ammunition bag seemed to be torn, maybe from the rough ejection from the plane? His face reveals his youth, only 19 years old. Why did this have to be? What's the point of fighting for patriotism if we die for something so dumb like oil? At this point of the fight, we will be throwing children into meat grinders the minute that they are born, with the harsh draft and all. "Arromdee? We should move."

I blinked a couple times as I phased back into reality, "Huh? Oh… yeah, let's move out" We ran towards the cave entrance and looked around. The snow was coming in hard now, I really hope Montgomery made it through all of this. "There's the pipes! Several clicks 259 degrees!" We rushed on the cliff lines, attempting to get to point Beta as fast as we could. When we approached the ridge lines and the oil pipes, there was no resistance.

There were corpses, freshly shot, all around the pipes. I turned back to Marcus, "Sergeant was here, maybe with that other soldier he parachuted out with. Let's catch up." The snow was slowing down as the sun was rising even more. We slogged through the deep snow and onto the metal oil pipes and started walking across. Fucking hell, this is nerve racking if I can say so. I was taking each step with immense caution, with the wind picking up… yay. Eventually, we made it across and then stumbled right into an ambush.

Later, in base camp codenamed Hell-Fire valley...

"Johnson, this is Marcus. The Sergeant has cleared a path for us by taking out the artillery. We've got reports to send our tin cans to the pulse field. Yes, I said Pulse field, the ones with the electrical mines. No, I'm not suicidal, we have an opening damn it! The orders came in to push the Reds out with one strike against their base. Reports say that their General Jingwei would be there. General Chase says it's a green light. Marcus out."

Marcus turned off his radio and covered his we go, the push to make it count. The push to get the commies out of Anchorage. After we get Jingwei, the reds would be running with their tails out back to China, it's just that we have to pick up the scraps left behind after. Marcus seemed to have grown a bit (mentally) since we dropped in from the plane. That's pretty good, considering we've been so fucking miserable since our drop. It's been several days since the drop with Sergeant Montgomery, sure missed that bastard.

I was promoted, in an emergency by Staff Sergeant Donivin, to be part of the force that overwhelms the enemy in the oil refinery district. Resist the Reds, read a poster, bite down against communism. These posters are all that reminds us that we are fighting a war for the black gold. This substance, so stupid, cost so many lives on all sides. I hated that.

God, I miss home. The air was bitter cold but good weather for a troop deployment drop. "Lieutenant Arromdee, our ride's here, time to face the menace head-on." Somewhere, I heard a huge buzz as the energy fields fell. With the shields down, the tanks out of commission, and the artillery crushed, it's time for the T-51s and T-45s to fly close to the minefield. God save these men and Women, God blessed these men and Women.

I grabbed my gauss rifle and ran outside the tent, Marcus following with. Private Velediaz, who was one of the soldiers with us back when we jumped but were separated, was already in the Vertibird. As I got onto the bird, other Vertibirds were launching with the heavy armor, heading to the minefield. It's a green light, I thought, here we go. Marcus climbed on board and immediately grabbed one of the side turrets.

I sat down alongside Private Velediaz, who was staring out the right side of the bird. "HQ, we are go for take off. This is Liberty Seven with the battalion A4, heading to drop off point. Good luck out there guys!"

Last checks now. Helmet: Check, Rifle: check, Ammunition: Check, Fear for my life: double check. The bird was jolting left and right as we took off hastily. Marcus glanced all around the side before loading the machine gun. Marcus was humming Ride of the Valkyries as one of the soldiers on board took his helmet off, sitting on it.

I overheard one of the other soldier asking him, "Why do all you guys sit on your helmets?" The GI responded by responding back, "So we don't get our balls blown off." There were a few chuckles as the vertibird speeds onto our destination. Already, there were sounds of ricocheting of shells. Must be the Chinese soldiers firing at the copter as it flies by. And away we go, feet first into hell.


	11. The Hell-Boys Entries 2 of 3

**The Hell-Boys Entries ⅔**

The Vertibird was rocking back and forth from the wind picking up, but there doesn't seem to have any effect on our destination. I viewed the battlefield over the side, staring at all the craters on the ground.

Who knew a battlefield can change perspective so quickly when you are in the air. I could clearly see some soldiers rushing in the same direction where we are headed, the giant pulse minefield. Sergeant Montgomery is down there somewhere, I hope he makes it. Our orders are to await his word when to begin the assault.

"Ground team to air forces, green light on assault. Repeat, begin the attack!" As the radios echo out the orders, vertibirds came in all directions towards the center of the fight. There was already fighting in the main base camp near the pulse fields, must be the GIs engaging the enemy already. "Mojo 3 and 4 are dropping some tins now, the rest hold until the landing pad is cleared".

Immediately, two Vertibirds landed to drop some men into the field. I can already see the commies panicking, running away. Marcus was firing his side turret as we flew by thinning the Commies.

Suddenly, the pilots were shouting over the headset, "Shit! We got AA's firing at us! Hang on!" Bullets rapture the air as the Chinese forces were attempting to slow our forces. The scene was chaotic, I could see one of the mines on the field go off, some poor tin can must've gotten too close.

A figure emerged from one of the ruined buildings, running across into one of the opposite sheds on the edge of the minefield. Suddenly, all the mines shot up a blue spark.

"Minefield is clear, repeat! Minefield is clear! Let's chase those fuckers out, Boys!" the birds jerked forward and landed in the now open field. Marcus grabbed his assault rifle and prepared for the rough landing, as I adjusted my own Gauss rifle. The Vertibird landed and we jumped out, nervous as hell on the events on what would transpire.

Private Velediaz ran alongside the tin cans towards the oil refinery, while Marcus and I split into the more eastern part. There, lies a small town that, according to have a fuck-ton of Chinese commandos and higher ended soldiers. Staff Sergeant Donivin decided to come with us on this separate mission, along with some T-51s.

"Nice to see you, Staff Sergeant. Nice stroll?" "Shut it Velediaz, if you want to make yourself useful, use that mouth of yours to convince the Reds in giving up." The private scoffed, shaking his head, and readied his weapon.

I took cover with Velediaz behind a store wall with a window facing inside the store while Donivin and a couple others took cover behind a ruined house. Staff sergeant Donivin motions two of the soldiers to head around the back of the house and motioned another two to follow suit in front of the house instead.

The sky was raining down a hellfire of snow now, minimizing long distance shots (which was also a plus since I didn't want to get my head blown off by a sniper rifle so early in a ambush). Velediaz and I climbed into the opened window of the store while the others were moving up. My green ammo bag was crispened by a large of snow and my feet shivering from the drop in temperature.

The second floor had 3/4th of the roof left when I had emerged from the staircase. The room next to me has a overturned oak bed frame, could be decent cover from the exposed sections. I crouched behind the bedframe and motion Velediaz to move into the adjacent room to go on overwatch. The air felt bone chilling and piercing.

I could feel a possible ambush awaiting. Nervously, I reached into my satchel and placed 2 grenades next to me in case. In the distance, the troops were making their moves from one building to another. Two of them went behind a overturned car while another 4 stayed behind the collapsed house. My rifle felt heavier with each exhaling of white air, each minute feels longer as the snow rushes down.

The silence really was starting to grind my nerves. Back in bootcamp, I wasn't the best steady shot but was fairly decent in my trigger discipline.

 **Bang!** The shot came from somewhere in front of me and downed a soldier who was adjusting his position. Immediately, all the others scattered, retreating to some sort of cover. More shots rang out as the an enemy sniper tries to pick off more of the troops. I fired between the broken window of a vehicle parked in front of a mining corporation building.

I kept firing my semi-automatic rifle since I saw something shiny duck and moving. Private Velediaz was also firing in the same area. As we were occupied with that sniper, there was a large shout from the mining building: "去猪！杀了他们！" and a couple dozen Chinese infantry emerged from the doors.

They fired their weapons at our location (as we had gave it away) and head towards cover. I just ducked my head down and fired my rifle over my shoulder, hoping to hit someone. A grenade went off, splitting the frozen fountain in the middle of the small town into bits and sprapenal firing in every direction.

This was already going to hell. "We can't take much more of this! Get them off us!" I radioed to the Staff sergeant. Shit, the cover was starting to chip and give out. "Roger that. Make some noise boys!" In the distance, several of our boys started engaging the advancing enemy. There were bullets hitting everywhere as air support came to help out.

Then several vertibirds flew over us, and one hovered above us. That must be our air support! At first, I grinned at the sight of the Vertibird, only to turn into despair as a chinese grenader shot a rocket into the nose of the bird.

The Gunner was firing as many rounds as they could before the bird was falling, taking several more of the chinese troops. The bird started to sputter and It started spinning and eventually crashed next to the collapsed church.

"Advance damn it! We're sitting ducks if we don't!" Donivin ordered us. Son of a bitch wants to push the remaining chinese out fast, irrational impatient bastard. Several soldiers were taking behind the fountain, having already pushed up, but lost a few of their comrades along the way.

I fired more shots over my shoulder as the enemy started to retreat, hoping to maybe hitting one. I was wondering why the chinese was running away when suddenly, two incendiary units poked out from two of the rubble and shot flames at us.

One poor trooper was taken by surprise and was fumbling around from the fire that has now engulfed his entire torso. I couldn't get a good shot from up here so I decided to get down and personal.

I climbed over the bedframe and slid across the pile of rubble down to the battlefield. Taking cover behind a flipped car, I peeked around to see any weaknesses.

I could see Two tins going with Donivin around back to flank the fire troopers while another 2 were encasing one left behind red soldier hiding behind the crashed vertibird. I pulled the trigger against the fire troops to get there attention while Donivin sneaks behind them.

Then, he motioned the order to shoot, and the two units were down. "Thanks Donivin." He simply nodded and raised back his rifle at the doors of the mining building. We all regrouped there after we were done ransacking the Chinese corpses for any munitions, and head inside.

Note: Sorry guys! I've been very busy! I'll try to keep up the regular schedual if I can ( 1 chapter per month). Sorry for my bad english! See you next time!


	12. The Hell-Boys Entires 3 of 3

**Hell Boys entries final**

"This is Fire squad, clearing mining building 'Ulysses Mining'. We're Oscar-Mike. Watch the corners." Quietly placing the radio down, Donivin slid the a wall across from us. "Phachara, we're splitting into two squads to clear the multiple floors. You and I are headed with Alpha into the hornet's intelligence nest way down in the mines while Beta will sweep across the upper levels."

Marcus moved into a separate squad and kicked through a wooden door. The walls were filled with propaganda posters, sometimes in English and other times in Mandarin. Two tin cans were with Donivin and I as we descended down the staircase.

Faintly above, rifles were fired with loud yelling, then silence. The light on the tins were bright but it has a unnerving yellow look to everything. As we descended, I gripped my rifle a bit tighter, my heart beating faster.

The fear that at anytime, the reds can jump from around the corner and ambush us. The steps were slowly shifting from concrete to open gridded steel, we must be approaching the mining area. The dim lights welded to the walls were changing into lit lamps. I ducked behind one of the tin cans when the stairs ended. The overall emotion from the silence and lack of resistance from any reds could be felt from everyone.

Ping! Jumping from the shot, I ducked behind a pillar. That shot must have ricochet off the shoulder of a tin as no one collapsed from any injury. Donivin poked his rifle and fired a shot in between two giant boulders.

A shot was exchanged back and we were back into the fire. Hastily pulling the trigger, the shells jammed the rifle, thus forcing me to manually releasing the shell and attempting a quick fix. Donivin dodged back behind the rocks and threw a grenade. The damn grenade blew up before landing, those commies must have a hell lot of luck.

With my perceptive (and quick) glances, I was able to deduce that there was only 3 shooters. I threw a rock as a distraction over me and attempted to suppress them. One of the other tins joined in as we started to push forward. With the suppressing nearing force, the reds tried to counter but failed as they were slaughtered from the tin's minigun. I reached out my hand to give Donivin (who was leaning against the rock still) a hand.

He grasped it and got up. "Nice work with the two outer guards. Now we have to deal with the officers." We can easily hear a dispute erupting behind the door ahead. Donivin gestured for us to group up, with the tins in front of Donivin and I. On the office door, Donivin ordered a explosive on it so it's an easier breach and clear.

3….2….1…Bang! The two tins in front pushed insides as we followed suit. Shells falling in large capacity from the miniguns as it sprayed across the room, devastating the panicked officers.

One of them reached out with a blade on my left to stab me but was blown away from the my side sawed off. Papers were still flying in the air when the firing stopped. A officer lay bleeding over a map of Anchorage mountains while others lay all sprawled out on the floor mid-panic.

I swept the shells off the map and studied it. "Staff Sergeant, the damn reds knew about our camp's plans to push into the electric field. There are blue markers where our fueling stations are, and there are red markers where our T-51s were being stored."

Donivin glanced over, replying "Well shit, at least we had them with their pants down when we took out the electric field. Doubt they planned ahead about us sneaking in one elite unit to sabotage it. Alright, fine work gents! Let's finish the sweep and let the intel boys do their work. Afterwards, we're gathering back to camp for a final push to get our ports open for a more formidable force to really back us up."

Afterwards, I regrouped back into camp and went on a final expedition with the Staff Sergeant for the United State's final counter attack. We were successful in our mission but suffered heavy casualties. From that traumatizing experience, I decided to apply for a more… quiet job. Being just transferred into the intelligence division, I was assigned to deal with any new developments in Northeastern China and process it to the stiff necks up above.


End file.
